Legal

Search

Subscribe via Email

Leave This Blank:Leave This Blank Too:Do Not Change This:

Your email:

September 02, 2005

Speaking Plainly: Thanks, Google

Someone smarter than I should devise a “Law” (call it “Carlito’s Last Theorem” or something) that says that as you throw more marketing weenies (like me) at the task of communicating, the message becomes logarithmically more bloated and impenetrable. We can’t just spit it out.
So, I had to smile when I read this warning dialog that accompanies Google Desktop 2.0:

Please read this carefully. It’s not the usual yada yada.
When you use Advanced Features, you may be sending non-personal usage information and information about websites you visit to Google.
For example, Google Desktop sends Google information about the news pages you visit in order to personalize the news you see in Sidebar. We use other non-personal usage data, including crash reports, to help improve Desktop’s performance. Please note that none of this data actually tells us who you are; we use it merely to improve Desktop’s ability to give you the information that’s most relevant to you.

Ah, nice. So even while they’re busy taking over the world, Google manages to keep it real & respect its users’ intelligence. I can dig it.